That's So Cozy And Cute. Thanks For The Answer!

That's so cozy and cute. Thanks for the answer!

Imagine Gale showing Tav his favourite coffeeshop in Waterdeep. How would it look like?

oh my god okay so i actually have an answer for this and if you'll forgive me it's a little self indulgent

so i keep having this recurring dream, right? it's in this city full of spires and gorgeous architecture. it's always the middle of the night, there are always so many stars, i assume due to magic. it's a hot chocolate shop.

every time i have this dream, the shop changes location. it's never in the same place twice, but it's always in a little nook somewhere, down an alleyway.

each time, the proprietor is different. always friendly and calm, always wanting to talk. i am always without fail the only person in the shop, and it became clear after several nights with this dream, it's because it exists for me. it's always cosy inside, with dark wood and candles and plush seating. the serving cups change with every visit. the kind of chocolate changes, too.

when i am feeling especially stressed or scared, i have this dream, and i have somewhere i can go to cradle a hot cup of cocoa and talk to someone kind.

and i think gale would love that. a hot chocolate shop you can only go to via astral projection, unique to the spellcaster, with a kind gentle soul waiting to unburden your troubles and give you a place of calm and peace.

My goodness, it's just me as Gale and my husband as Tav. There's order in my chaos and I will stand for it! 🤣

Hello my friend!

So we all know how amazing and wonderful Gale is, how kind, good, caring and funny he is. He is, in so many ways, a perfect man.

He is, however, only human. I have the tendency to idealise him, and forget this.

My question to you is - what do you think his flaws are? Both generally and as a husband/life partner.

💜

Ohhh I love this question so much ❤️ I am a hopeless romantic, and I adore Gale’s charming, sweet, loving adorkableness! He is truly amazing—but I can confirm NOBODY (and no relationship) is ever 100% perfect.

The thing about a long-term committed relationship is that, while your partner’s charms make the relationship wonderful, their flaws are what make it REAL. And that’s just as important.

So let’s talk about our charming Gale’s less-than-charming aspects, shall we?

[warning: this went from a short & concise answer to a rambling dissertation, please prepare yourself accordingly! Also I know this ask/answer was supposed to make Gale a little less perfect and help lessen our obsession, but uhhhh, I seem to have veered hard in the opposite direction 😂]

———

First off: The Pomposity™️ (I’m not 100% certain that’s even a real word but you know what I mean right) So we all know that by the end of the game, (human) Gale has come to accept himself as he is, and decided to henceforth be known as ‘Gale Dekarios, a most brilliant wizard of intentionally limited reknown.’ He’s come a lonnng way in cutting down his ego, but let’s be honest: some of it will never truly go away. And that’s fair, because he IS brilliant, and he IS talented, and he IS extremely passionate about magic.

…but it’s tough to remember all that and give him a pass when that usually-oh-so-adorable-finger-in-the-air is now aimed at YOU, as he declares that ‘after all, he IS an expert on [*insert topic here*] because he WAS awarded [*insert scholarly award here*] from the one and only [*insert impressive Blackstaff Academy professor here.*]’

And all you wanted was for your opinion to be taken into consideration regarding the wine selection at dinner.

———

Second: The Disarray / Messiness. Gale has a brilliant mind, one that he applies full throttle to any and all situations: concentration on magic spells, lance board strategy, calculations, poring over ancient tomes, and even figuring out how to cook something edible out of rotting fish heads and some moldy cheese (no veggies, though!)

The problem is, while his mind is brilliant and he will keep it laser-focused on his chosen subject at that current moment, from a day-to-day perspective he is straight-up scatter brained with all the things he has his hands in. We can see this in his vision of his tower: BOOKS. BOOKS EVERYWHERE. Some stacked in piles, some shoved onto shelves, some left open on the page he was reading when he got distracted, etc.

We also get confirmation of this from Tara in the epilogue:

Tara: The way he leaves his potions in absolute disarray—I know for certain he wasn’t raised in a barn, but you’d never know it.

It’s one thing to have books & potions & scrolls scattered throughout his library and sitting room—you have no complaints against that, you HAVE moved in with/married a wizard, after all—but to find them in the kitchen, wine cellar, even occasionally stuffed into your own wardrobe? It’s a bit much.

TLDR: Our rizzard is a hot mess.

———

Which leads us into perhaps his biggest flaw: The Fussiness.

So about all those books everywhere, on everything, all at once? You didn’t try and ARRANGE them or organize them for him, did you?…You did?! Oh, gods! No, no, he had an ORDER to them, you see, and he knew that the exact spell he needed could be found in the third book down in the stack next to the piano, page 453, why did you ever decide to move it?

Well, you explain as patiently as you can, it was in the way, and frankly you could tell from the dust on it that he hadn’t touched it in several yea—

BY ELMINSTER’S ELBOW, did you ALPHABETIZE his illusion scrolls??! Oh, for the love of—!

You get the picture.

There would undoubtedly be moments when you found yourself fully exasperated by this man and his exacting, fussy nature.

———

All that being said: true fights would be rare.

The occasional huffy remark or quickly-forgotten gripe would occur now and then as in any relationship, but a real, anger-filled argument? With heightened emotions and hurt feelings? Rare indeed.

The only thing bigger than Gale’s brain is his heart. And while his mind is dedicated to a great many things as mentioned above (magic studies, lance board, etc) his heart is 100% dedicated TO YOU, and you alone. So on those rare occasions after a fight has occurred, it does not take long for him to come down from the heat of the moment and realize, oh, hells, he’s been an ass, hasn’t he?

He knows you love him. His anxiety about not being enough for you has long since disappeared, and he’s calmed his worries that you would ever leave him, but still…there’s always a lingering concern that maybe you’ll grow distant from him after an argument.

If you are in the wrong and he is certain of it, he will be stiffly polite until you offer an apology, and then he will be taking you in his arms, kissing you passionately and telling you ‘all is forgiven my love, let’s never speak of this again’ (and trying hard to hide his relief that you apologized first, because he was not sure how long he would be able to hold out and stay mad at you.)

If HE is in the wrong, though? And you are truly mad at him? And he knows he really stuck his foot in it? Oh, boy.

You’ll be treated to an apology so eloquent it would make poets weep, and it will come packaged with hand-holding, pouting, pleading, and Gale getting down on his (bad) knees.

And if you’re still mad at him after that?

Well, then you’ll have to complete a gauntlet harder than anything Shar could ever throw at you. You’ll have to try and stay angry, explain your anger, AND explain to Gale why he won’t be easily forgiven, all while looking directly at this:

And this:

AND THIS:

…

…needless to say you will failing, and hard.

Not that you mind, because the make-up sex will be absolutely phenomenal. Gale doesn’t just want to repair your loving bond after you’ve had an argument, he wants to improve it. Which requires much study and experimentation, of course.

And for awhile afterwards, all will be bliss again.

…until you find a pile of scrolls shoved under your side of the bed, and some open books scattered across your dresser, and you decide it time to do some organizing. ———

So yes, my friend. Gale definitely does have some flaws, and at some point they WOULD drive you crazy in any sort of relationship you have with him. Gale is wonderful, Gale is loving, but Gale isn’t perfect!!

…but when he takes you in his arms after you’ve made up, and his mouth is hungrily devouring yours, and he’s murmuring words of adoration against your skin as he trails his kisses down your neck, chest, hips—

Nevermind! I take it all back. He’s perfect. 😂

This is why I keep a notebook next to my bed!!!!!! Also why I have insomnia...

I’m losing my mind

i am romancing gale for a third time since i have fallen under his spell. and i love the change in gale greeting after the weave scene, he seems so delighted to talk to Tav. i also love making him slightly flustered after flirting with him at the tiefling party.

Hello, darling anon! I'm so sorry I needed so long to reply--as it turns out, sitting down is not the most comfy thing for me to do at the moment. (This is tragic because sloth is absolutely my cardinal sin.)

One thing that is so lovely and heartbreaking about Gale's early, friendly greetings to Tav is that Gale seems to be a person who thrives on close connections, whether those connections are platonic or romantic. And it's so terrible because, as we know from his dialogue, he doesn't really have friends! He has colleagues, Mystra (NOT A FRIEND), and Elminster (more a mentor/father figure who can't be bothered to tell Gale about Mystra's orders in person.) For friends he has Tara and the magma mephit, and eventually Tav and the rest of the crew, and finally, in the epilogue, he can talk about his friends at the Yawning Portal.

(ADHD parenthetical: regarding Elminster, I honestly sometimes feel like--despite Elminster's affection for Gale--the friendship is largely one-sided. Elminster likes and maybe even loves Gale, but I'm not entirely sure if that can best be described as friendship per se. Just as Gale completely misunderstands his relationship with Mystra as being one of reciprocal, romantic love, I think he might also not view his friendship with Elminster in the same way Elminster does his relationship with Gale. Anyway.)

(ADHD parenthetical 2: I headcanon that some of Gale's Yawning Portal friends include the drow, dragonborn, and cleric of Cyric from his Act 1 story in the Grove if you rescue Sazza. They probably looked at the weird-ass wizard who'd just loudly bought a round for the entire bar and the dragonborn decided they were going to adopt him.)

Okay, for real this time, one of the unending, bullshitty complaints about Gale is that he loves to hear himself talk and never shuts up, and while he does love to yap, his greetings also make it very clear he wants to hear what you have to say! He asks you what's on your mind, he tells you that he enjoys your conversations (even if you've exhausted literally all his dialogue and there's nothing new to talk about), he asks you to tell him anything you're worried about because "you can always unburden yourself with me." He asks you if you need him for anything. HE WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!! We often interpret those lines as Gale always wanting to be helpful and of service, but they also point to his eagerness to communicate and talk, his desire to hear whatever his partner has to say.

Those lines make me wish we had so much more dialogue with Gale, whether about his past or the current situation, or if there are shared interests (maybe dialogue specific to spellcasters) or even different ones. Or maybe a chance for Tav to say they're really worried, or are exhausted from having to go from calamity to calamity, and Gale comforts them because, well, he's ever the optimist.

He's so handsome!!